Neely Family Interview

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Now before, we were sitting in the living room and you were both holding on to this letter, you just kept on looking at and looking at it.

Segment Synopsis: Two members of the Neely family react to the letter written by Elrod Neely.

Keywords: African-American mill workers

Subjects: Letters; Race discrimination; Racism; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Now, did your Uncle Elrod did he work in the cotton mill?

Segment Synopsis: Two members of the Neely family discuss the segregation in the cotton mills and how it relegated African Americans to maintenance jobs.

Keywords: African-American mill workers

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: One second, one second. I actualkly typed it out so you'd be able...

Segment Synopsis: Several more family members arrive and discuss the letter and their Uncle Elrod Neely.

Keywords: African-American mill workers; National Recovery Administration

Subjects: Johnson, Hugh S. (Hugh Samuel), 1882-1942; Textile workers; Wages; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: M1: Well he couldn't except as a janitor or something like that.

Segment Synopsis: Members of the Neely family discuss what life was like in the Jim Crow Era, and what gave their Uncle Elrod Neely the courage to write to Hugh S. Johnson.

Keywords: African-American mill workers

Subjects: Discrimination; Racism; Textile workers; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: The specfic period of time that I'm looking at is exactly when Uncle Elrod wrote that letter.

Segment Synopsis: Members of the Neely family discuss what life was like under Jim Crow, their Uncle Elrod's reaction to it, and why they did not know about the letter.

Keywords: African-American mill workers

Subjects: Racism; Wages; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: F1: I'm wondering if this is the letter-- maybe this is the letter he wrote and signed his name to, maybe that's why they took him out.

Segment Synopsis: The Neely family discuss letters that Uncle Elrod wrote to the newspaper, Washington D.C. and other places and why they might not have known about them

Keywords: African-American mill workers

Subjects: Johnson, Hugh S. (Hugh Samuel), 1882-1942; Ku Klux Klan (1915- ); Letters to the editor

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: I want to take one more picture, and you know, you really helped me very much.

Segment Synopsis: Judith Helfand takes pictures of the Neely family, and they discuss their reactions to the letter, and the things in brought up.

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; Photography of families; Racism

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: No I really do, I really think that Uncle Elrod thought he was gonna be listened to this time.

Segment Synopsis: Judith Helfand and members of the Neely family discuss why Uncle Elrod thought he might be heard this time, and their opinions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Keywords: African-American mill workers; National Recovery Administration; domestic workers

Subjects: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945; Textile workers; United States. National Recovery Administration; Working class African Americans

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: When, when you all see a letter like this and its your uncle of course, and you get this history back, what does it make you think about?

Segment Synopsis: Members of the Neely family discuss what it means to know of this letter that their uncle wrote.

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; Letters